What I'm Up To - Vol. 48

1. Celebrations

‍We kicked off the month with a couple of noteworthy festivities. Gus turned 17 and Acton Academy West had its first-ever high school graduate, Karissa Dailey.

Karissa is one of Gus’s closest school friends and he opted to spend a lot of his birthday at her ceremony and the subsequent party. About 60 students and parents gathered in a gym for the graduation. The Daileys actually moved to Austin so their daughters could attend Acton, so it was sweet to have their oldest be the first to graduate from the growing school. Gus and his classmate, Reagan, gave short speeches honoring Karissa before she addressed the crowd as well. Kids have to do a lot of public speaking at Acton and it was remarkable how confident and competent all three were. What a gift! One bonus of being the sole graduate is you automatically get to list “valedictorian” on your transcript.

That evening, Gus had a pool party with his gaming friends. For the past 14 months, they have almost exclusively spent time together online. Listening to them laugh upstairs playing games was pure joy.

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2. Father’s Day(s)

‍If the month of June had a theme, “breaking out” would come close. We definitely started testing our newfound immunity. If the graduation and Gus’s party were getting our feet wet, the next bit was a dive into the deep end of socialization. We attended a soccer match with about 20,000 fans.

As part of my Father’s Day, Wendy let me buy tickets to the US Women’s National Team exhibition match with Nigeria at the brand new Q2 Stadium. It was the inaugural game for the stadium and, all things considered, the experience was pretty dialed in. The stadium itself is gorgeous with a grass pitch and lots of local food. I missed the first goal of the match waiting for food at Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ. The manager gave everyone in line a free barbeque rib to soften the sting of missing the goal.

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The rest of my Father’s Day was celebrated at Better Ranch with a delicious family brunch, a little fishing, and not too much work.

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3. Five Quick Hits:

‍a. Wendy and I wrapped up the aggressive portion of our Ideal Protein diet. After about 12 weeks, Wendy shed 22 pounds and I lost a little over 30. We’re now transitioning to a lifestyle with many more veggies, moderating any alcohol, and largely avoiding most carbs and sugars. As awesome as it was to lose the weight, we both generally feel so much better on a lower-carb diet.

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b. Our KW headquarters occupies the 4th floor of a building overlooking the Greenbelt. This last month, vultures have taken up residence on the ledges outside our windows. The clatter of talons on the metal ledge and the whack of three-foot wings on the window are the new soundtrack to my daily Zoom calls.

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c. Our neighbor adopted a Brittany puppy that arrived just before he took his kids to Disney. He asked us to puppy-sit for a few days. While Macey is unbearably cute, she was also completely exhausting. We are now very clear we don’t need another dog.

d. We celebrated Juneteenth as an official holiday for a second year as a company and a first as a nation. I learned about Juneteenth when we moved to Texas in 2000. Still hard to imagine what it was like for the free men and women to hear General Granger read General Order No. 3 in Galveston and learn that you’d been free for 2 ½ years without knowing it.

e. I had dinner with my friend, Juanpablo, for the first time in over a year. We had a good rhythm of meeting for drinks or movies before COVID. It was wonderful to hit reset on that ritual. Over dinner, I randomly asked him, “What’s the biggest gift you got from each of your parents?”  His answers were profound and not for me to share, however, I’ve been percolating on this quite a bit.

I think my dad taught me the power of persistence. I can still remember when I fell in the last lap of a mile race in 6th grade. I was in the lead when my feet got tangled with another runner and I went down hard. Bloodied and hurt, by the time I got up, everyone was crossing the finish line. I hung my head and walked back to my team across the field. After verifying I wasn’t seriously injured, my dad looked me in the eye and shared, “If you had finished the race, even if you had to walk, everyone would have given you a standing ovation.”

And while we make a big deal of being “Papasans” (at one time we could only locate 14 in all of the US), my mom (née “Miller”) taught me what it means to be family. She never forgets a birthday or anniversary, and her cards have an uncanny ability to arrive the day of. We have a duty to take care of each other, to come together, and stay in touch.

There are many lessons. Some “should do’s” that I did or didn’t learn, and some “shouldn’t do’s” that I didn’t or did learn.

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4. The "Beninsula"

‍Wendy and I spent the final weekend of the month visiting Seattle and Bellingham with Wendy’s mastermind group, the “5 Dolls.” The 5 Dolls network has grown from five to eleven businesswomen, sprouted a popular podcast, and added a women’s leadership event. They get together a few times a year and this time they invited the gents.

We all flew into Seattle for a night before brunch with our host, Vija, and a caravan to Bellingham. Vija’s partner, Ben, graciously put several of us up at his house on a private peninsula which we have dubbed the “Beninsula.” The house is surrounded by 80 acres of wildlife preserve and overlooks the bay. We hiked, we kayaked and we dined in style. Some of my favorite moments were reading on the balcony in the mornings while drinking coffee and listening to the waves, wind, and sea birds.

On the final day, we drove back to Seattle to have dinner with some old college friends -- Stacie, Audrey, and Brett. Stacie was Wendy’s roommate and was the first to know when we got engaged. We still laugh about her reaction, an incredulous, “Get the %$#* outta here!”

The only unpleasant part of our trip was the crippling heat. If you’d told me that it would be cooler in Austin than in the Pacific Northwest for our trip, I would have never believed you. And while we get triple-digit heat much more frequently in Tejas, we also have AC everywhere. Only about 40% of homes have air conditioning in the Pacific Northwest, which reminded me of returning to New York City in August of 2003 and landing during a three-day blackout where all you could do was stay outside, take lots of showers, and guzzle water.

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5. Bulldogs 9, Commodores 0

‍My dad attended Mississippi State and has faithfully rooted for them over the years. We spent many a weekend driving to Starkville for football games. There are feuds over the Egg Bowl with our Ole Miss family and friends. The usual outcomes from any Bulldog game are tinnitus from all the cowbells and disappointment over another lost opportunity.

I’m happy to report that at 80-years old, dad witnessed Mississippi State win the College World Series, the first national championship in any sport in the history of the university. Go Dawgs!

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6. Reading, Watching, and Listening

‍a. How to Change by Katy Milkman goes deep into the science of behavior change. Katy’s book offers practical advice on how to pursue the “best version of you.” I liked it so much, I asked Angela Duckworth for an intro. I’ll be interviewing Katy on July 15th. RSVP and join me.

b. Tax-Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright is another clear winner. If you are a real estate professional or investor, dive into his advice on “cost segregation.” I’ve talked to a couple of high-income earners who have effectively brought their tax rate to zero with Tom. Gary and I interviewed Tom for our private mastermind. Off-camera, he said that he would “put the fun in taxes.” I called BS on that. He replied, “You can’t spell “refund” without “fun.”’ Definitely a book to read and share with your CPA.

c. I also enjoyed two novels in series I’ve mentioned before: The Breaker (Peter Ash #6) by Nick Petrie and The Redeemer (Harry Hole #6) by Jo Nesbo.

d. This from Morgan Housel made me laugh aloud.

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e. It’s not a book, but do explore The Red Hand Files. Musician, Nick Cave, answers random questions from fans. A few are funny. Many are wise. Almost all are lyrically mesmerizing.

f. Last month, I shared how much I liked actress, Jean Smart, in Mare of Easttown. Then I stumbled onto Hacks on HBO. Smart plays an aging Vegas standup comic paired with a young struggling writer played by Hannah Einbinder. Much laughter ensues.

g. I also enjoyed Eric Bana in the Australian mystery, Dry, and Disney’s Onward on my flight home from Seattle. Both were good. Neither stuck the landing.

h. Finally, my friend, Crystal, shared her Low-Fi mix in her newsletter for her new company, Cleverly.  Now, I’m hooked.

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That’s it. Please hit reply and let me know what you’re up to.

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Be well, do good deeds, and eat tacos!

‍Jay

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